“I heard about the Fergie time, I was not here (in England) in that period, but of course you have to have that,” said Guardiola, whose side reclaimed their eight-point lead over United ahead of next week’s potentially record-breaking Manchester derby.

“What we have shown in the last games is we never give up. If we can take something about the Fergie Time, it is welcome, a pleasure.”

On his side’s purple patch of form, Guardiola added: “It’s important for us to keep our moment in terms of victory. It means we have done 39 points in a row, so it’s a lot.”